Perennial welterweight contender Jon Fitch (23-4-1 MMA, 13-2-1 UFC) will have to wait a little bit longer to erase the sting of a 12-second loss to Johny Hendricks.

Wrestling Observer first reported Fitch injured his knee in training and has been forced to withdraw from a planned UFC on FUEL TV 4 matchup with Aaron Simpson.

Simpson is expected to remain on the card, and the search for a replacement opponent is currently underway.

Featuring a key middleweight matchup between Mark Munoz and Chris Weidman, UFC on FUEL TV 4 takes place July 11 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. The night’s main card airs on FUEL TV, and preliminary bouts are expected to stream on Facebook.

Simpson, a two-time NCAA Division I All-American wrestler, fought once for the WEC and eight times for the UFC as a middleweight, and he posted a 7-1 record in the process. But following a close split-decision defeated to Ronny Markes at UFC on FUEL TV 1 in February, the 37-year-old announced his intentions of dropping a weight class.

Prior to the Markes loss, Simpson had posted consecutive victories over Mario Miranda, Brad Tavares and Eric Schafer. The bout with Fitch was to mark his debut as a 170-pounder.

Fitch, meanwhile, had looked to fight for the first time since his disappointing 12-second knockout loss to now-top contender Hendricks in December. Prior to the defeat, the American Kickboxing Academy member and former Purdue University wrestling captain was on a 5-1-1 run that included wins over the likes of Paulo Thiago, Mike Pierce and Thiago Alves.

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